JANUARY/MONTH 1 - Managing Your Compensation and Your Career - Identifying the Skills You Need to Advance | Stacey Hawley

New year - new you. That is your motto. This is the year you take more control over your career and your compensation. So many articles talk about one-time conversations to have with your managers about your contributions, performance and compensation. The goal of these one-time conversations is to "convince" your manager you deserve a higher raise, promotion or other form of compensation (i.e., bigger bonus).

The problem? These are NOT one-time conversations. In fact, if you waited until 4-6 weeks before the end of your company's performance cycle/fiscal year/review period, it is a case of TOO LITTLE TOO LATE.

Compensation and promotion decisions happen throughout the year but most definitely more than 4 weeks before the end of the year (at least they do for most companies).

That is why I created this series. As a compensation consultant, I have designed the compensation programs, decision-making cycles, performance/goal setting, incentive plans and career paths for companies from Fortune 500's to startups (including nonprofits and health systems). I understand exactly how companies approach compensation and career decisions for companies. And, I understand how employees NEED to proactively approach their own compensation and careers THROUGHOUT THE YEAR to be most successful.

I am sharing that insight with you to help you better manage your career and compensation.

In my 12 month series, I will give you topics and talking points (for you and your managers, peers and/or people you manage) to help you manage your career, get to the "next level" (whatever that is for you) and earn more money.

Each month, you will get the topic, issues/challenges and talking points. You should be using this information whenever appropriate throughout the month to manage your career.

I will also talk about each month on my podcast in case you prefer to LISTEN. The podcast will be live by the 2nd Friday of each month.

Let's get started.

JANUARY/MONTH 1 - DETERMINING YOUR CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN (CDP)

TOPIC: IDENTIFYING THE SKILLS YOU NEED BASED ON YOUR CAREER GOALS

ISSUES/CHALLENGES: Determining the technical and developmental (i.e., soft) skills that both you and your manager believe moves your career forward AND help you get to the next level in your career

GOAL: Before you can establish any goals for the year - and what you want to accomplish - you need to understand what skills you need to develop to get there.

WHY? No matter how SMART (more on that next month) your goals are, unless they are the right goals, it won't help you get to the next level. You need to understand what skills you need - and what skills your manager thinks you need - before you can establish the any goals.

1. Determine your career plan by IDENTIFYING the technical and developmental skills you want to develop or acquire

Most people jump right to establishing goals. Some people already know how to develop SMART goals. But the hiccup is whether you establish the RIGHT goals - goals that help you get to the next level, get ready for a promotion, put you on the path for your future promotion, etc.

First, let's be real. We don't all get promoted every year. We aren't in a job for one year and then jump to the next level. It takes time to learn new skills, master those skills, perform those skills at a high level and then broaden our skillsets enough to be ready for the promotion.

That being said, it is important to establish goals that set you on the path for the promotion. Yes, many companies have career paths laid out - with the necessary technical and developmental (i.e., soft) skills attached to a timeframe, or game plan so to speak - but just as many do not. If your company is one of those without clearly defined career paths, it is up to you to learn what it takes.

To start, look at your peers and/or immediate boss. What does he/she do everyday? What technical and developmental skillsets does he/she need to be successful? What skills does he/she have that you don't or that you need to develop?

Make a list of both technical (can be industry specific skills that are learned through training) and developmental skills (related to all industries that are related to emotional intelligence and personal abilities) that you need to develop.

Technical Skills EXAMPLES:

Accounting

Coding

Computer skills (software, networks, Microsoft Office, etc.)

Data analytics

Data mining

Programming (C#, SQL, Java, C++, HTML, JavaScript, XML, C, Perl, Python, PHP, Objective-C, AJAX, ASP.NET, Ruby

Budgeting

Marketing plan development

Spreadsheets (i.e., Excel, Google Sheets, OpenOffice, comparative analyses, pivot tables, macros, link to database, vertical lookups, etc.)

Social Media Outreach (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, posts, giveaways, customer interaction)

Phone skills. Voicemail, forwarding, hold, recording

Quickbooks/Accounting Programs (i.e. Invoicing, expense tracking, accounts payable, reports, payroll, employee time tracking, cash flow management)

HR programs such as Workday

Graphical programs (i.e., Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Free Hand, Corel Draw)

Enterprise Systems such as Payment Processing, Automated Billing Systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRMs like Oracle Netsuite or Salesforce), Business Continuity Planning, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERPs like SAP, Oracle)

Math (Basic math, arithmetic, statistics, algebra, trigonometry, geometry, calculus.)

Developmental (soft) Skill EXAMPLES:

Analyzing problems (Assessment, system knowledge, analytical skills, testing, calm mindset, problem-solving, logic, collaboration, communication)

Planning. Analysis, brainstorming, decision-making, forecasting, logistics, problem-solving, cost-assessment, requirements-gathering.

Managing projects (Task management, prioritization, delegation, task separation, scheduling, risk management)

Communications - giving presentations

Communications - writing letters or emails

Communications - blogging

Communications - nonverbal and active listening (how you stand, shake hands, smile, etc.)

Teamwork (conflict management, Delegation, Active listening, Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination, Idea exchange, Mediation, Negotiating)

Adaptability and Flexibility (decision-making, curiosity, optimism, calmness, self-confidence, motivation)

Time management (goal setting, prioritization, organization, meeting deadlines)

If you still aren't sure, you can read your job description and the company's job description for your boss' job. The job descriptions can help you understand the tasks you need to be able to complete and then think through the skills you need to develop to be able to complete those tasks.

2. Define a PATH for Developing the Technical and Developmental Skills You Want to Develop

Once you identify the skills you want to develop, you need a more concrete path for actually developing them. Sometimes the list is overwhelming. You want to break it down into smaller steps that you can actually accomplish this year.

Let's assume developing presentation skills is on your list of soft/developmental skills. You may have observed that your boss makes presentations and that you want to develop this skill. But how? You could be on the path to helping create the presentations and, when possible, helping answer questions when your boss gives the presentation. Eventually, you want to be the one giving the presentation with your boss in the room (as a crutch).

As another example, you may realize you need to learn how to manage a budget. Therefore you should be contributing to the budget's development (in excel or other software), helping develop a small subset of the budget and eventually developing the entire budget for your boss' approval.

If your boss deals with clients/customers and you do not, you may decide you want to be able to work with clients directly. But you aren't just going to be let loose. You need to determine a path for how you can deal with clients. Maybe at first you can handle smaller accounts, one-off requests, or just watch your boss as he/she handles clients. Eventually you should be the one responding with your boss there to help out. Finally, you should be the one handling clients without your boss present.

3. Discuss your skill needs - and the path for getting there - with your boss

At this point, you have a fairly good idea of what skills you need to develop. Now you need to confirm that both you and your boss AGREE on those skillsets and the path to get there. Set up a time to talk with your boss to review your plan, get feedback and add (or change) anything your boss thinks you need.

This is a critical step. VERY CRITICAL! You are being proactive but also signaling to your boss that you want their feedback, need their help and support and want to be successful in moving forward.

KEY TAKEAWAY

You need to determine exactly what skills you need to acquire or develop to get to the next level. You can do this by reading your company's job descriptions, observing the skillsets of your boss and/or co-workers and talking with your manager.

Good luck!

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